Grip safety

ABSTRACT

A weapon includes a frame, a slide, a trigger and a grip, and a grip safety positioned on a side panel of the grip.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to firearms, and particularly to a grip safety for a firearm (e.g., handgun, pistol, revolver, rifle, machine gun, etc.).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made to FIG. 1, which illustrates a typical prior art handgun 1, which includes a grip safety 2 positioned on or just above the back strap 3. The grip safety 2 is automatically shifted to the firing position when the shooter's hand engages the stock of handgun 1. When a shooter grips the gun normally with his/her hand, the web of flesh between the palm and the forefinger presses against the back strap 3 and depresses the grip safety 2, which pivots to an off position which enables firing. The grip safety 2 is normally spring-biased to the “safe” position so that the handgun 1 will not fire even when the trigger is pulled. A handgun with the grip safety on the front strap is also known.

However, prior art grip safeties do not completely prevent accidental discharge so as to avoid unintentional injuries and/or death. For example, the grip safety can be depressed when retrieving the gun from the holster and the gun can be accidentally discharged before the gun is properly aimed at the target.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide an improved grip safety for a weapon, as is described in detail further hereinbelow. The invention is described for a handgun, but the invention is applicable for other kinds of firearms, and the terms, handgun, weapon and firearm are used interchangeably. The grip safety is unlikely to be inadvertently depressed when retrieving the gun from the holster, thereby preventing accidents.

There is thus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention a weapon including a frame, a slide, a trigger and a grip, and a grip safety positioned on a side panel of the grip.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the grip safety is positioned such that only if the grip is properly and fully gripped by a shooter, the grip safety moves to an off position which enables firing the weapon. The grip safety may include a pad, a lever, a button or a depressable element. The grip safety is biased to be normally in a safe position that prevents firing the weapon.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention movement of the grip safety to an off position which enables firing the weapon is not coplanar with or parallel to movement of the trigger. For example, the grip safety may be perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the weapon, that is, the grip safety movement is perpendicular to the trigger movement.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention the grip safety includes a lug, biased by a biasing device, which nominally blocks movement of a firearm mechanism of the weapon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood and appreciated more fully from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a prior art weapon with grip safety positioned at the back strap;

FIG. 2 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a weapon with a grip safety, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A-3C are simplified schematic illustrations of the grip safety, wherein FIG. 3A is a side view of the grip safety blocking a firearm mechanism, FIG. 3B is an end view of the grip safety blocking the firearm mechanism, and FIG. 3C is an end view of the grip safety not blocking the firearm mechanism; and

FIGS. 4A-4B are simplified schematic illustrations of another embodiment of the grip safety, in which the grip safety operates an existing back-strap grip safety.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which illustrates a weapon 10 with a grip safety 12, constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Handgun 10 includes a grip 14, constructed of a back strap 16 (rear portion that contacts the shooter's palm), front strap 18 (front portion that contacts the shooter's fingers) and side panels 20 between the front and back straps 18 and 16. Handgun 10 also includes a frame 17, slide 19 and trigger 22.

In one embodiment, grip safety 12 is positioned on the side panels 20. Grip safety 12 is normally in the safe position so that handgun 10 will not fire. Grip safety 12 is positioned such that only if the grip 14 is properly and fully gripped by the shooter, the grip safety 12 moves to an off position which enables firing. For example, grip safety 12 may include a pad, lever, button or other element that can be actuated such as by depressing the element. Grip safety 12 may be spring-biased to be normally in the safe position when not depressed. FIG. 2 shows various possible positions for the grip safety 12.

In the prior art, in which the grip safety is positioned at or above the back strap, the grip safety works by blocking any rearward movement of the trigger (such as blocking the trigger bow in a 1911 handgun or the trigger bar in an XD handgun) unless the gun is gripped in the hand. The grip safety is spring-biased. In the 1911 handgun, for example, the sear spring applies pressure to both the back of the trigger bow and the grip safety. In other handguns, the grip safety is spring-biased in other ways (e.g., in the XD, the grip safety spring is a coil spring mounted on the grip safety pin).

Accordingly, in the prior art, the grip safety blocks rearward movement of the trigger by being positioned in back of the trigger along a longitudinal axis of the handgun, which is any imaginary axis that extends between the front and rear extremities of the handgun parallel to, or collinear with, the bore sight. The grip safety is thus coplanar with the trigger. The grip safety, when depressed, pivots out of the way of the trigger to allow rearward movement of the trigger.

In contrast, in the present invention, the grip safety 12 is not coplanar with the plane A (FIG. 2) of trigger 22. Instead, the grip safety 12 is tilted with respect to the trigger 22 and with respect to the longitudinal axis 24 or trigger plane A (which is again defined as any imaginary axis or plane that extends between the front and rear extremities of the handgun parallel to, or collinear with, the bore sight). In other words, movement of the grip safety 12 to the off position which enables firing the weapon is not coplanar with or parallel to movement of the trigger 22. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, the grip safety 12 is angled 90° with respect to, that is, perpendicular to, the longitudinal axis 24 or trigger plane A. As seen schematically in FIGS. 3A-3C, grip safety 12 has a lug 26 that nominally blocks rearward movement of a firearm mechanism FM, such as trigger 22 (e.g., the trigger bar that projects rearward), as seen in FIG. 3B. Grip safety 12 is biased by a biasing device 28, such as a coil spring or leaf spring, to the blocking position (FIG. 3B, end view). When grip safety 12 is depressed (FIG. 3C, end view), lug 26 moves (e.g., pivots) out of the way of the trigger 22 to allow rearward movement of trigger 22 or other firing movement of the firearm mechanism. The grip safety is designed not to interfere with the magazine catch and magazine operation in the magazine well.

As mentioned above, grip safety 12 is positioned such that if and only if grip 14 is fully gripped by the shooter, grip safety 12 moves to the off position which enables firing. This may be accomplished, e.g., by positioning the actuable element (e.g., pad) on the side panels 20 next to the shooter's metacarpal bones. The actuable elements may be positioned on one or both sides of the grip 14.

The grip safety of the present invention may be located on one or both sides of the firearm (both sides being preferable for ambidextrous operation).

The grip safety of the present invention may be configured to block a firearm mechanism FM other than the trigger, such as the sear or the hammer. In such a case, the grip safety of the present invention may be used in addition to the existing back-strap grip safety.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 4A-4B, which illustrate another embodiment of the grip safety, in which the novel grip safety 12 operates the existing back-strap grip safety 2. For example, as shown schematically in FIGS. 4A-4B, the novel grip safety may include side-mounted cones or wedge elements 70, which are biased (e.g., spring-loaded by a coil or leaf spring). Wedge elements 70 are arranged to be depressed inwards towards and against the existing back-strap grip safety 2. Depressing wedge elements 70 inwards causes the existing back-strap grip safety 2 to be moved (e.g., pivot out of the way of the trigger bow or tail) and permit squeezing the trigger to fire the weapon. Since the action of the grip safety of the present invention on the existing grip safety is inside the weapon, the existing back-strap grip safety may be modified so as not to protrude from the back of the weapon.

Alternatively, instead of being mechanical, the grip safety of the present invention may be electrically, electronically, electromechanically, pneumatically, hydraulically or chemically operated, or in any other way.

The grip safety of the present invention may be implemented in existing handguns with some rework. For example, the 1911 handgun has a sear spring located in the grip frame. The sear spring is a three-pronged leaf spring that resets the sear and grip safety, and also applies tension on the disconnect to push the disconnect away from the sear legs. Installing the grip safety of the present invention in a 1911 handgun would require rework of the handle and perhaps rework or replacement of the sear spring. The pivoting mechanism of the thumb safety of the 1911 may also require rework.

The grip 14 may additionally incorporate a recognition device 30 (e.g., “finger print”/“palm print recognition device” or any other device for biometric recognition or electronic recognition, or any other recognition device for recognition between the firearm and a pre-agreed/designated reference) capable of recognizing/identifying the shooter's hand. The recognition device 30 permits unlocking the weapon only for an authorized user or keeping it locked for anyone unauthorized. The recognition device 30 may be optionally located on the grip safety 12.

The grip 14 may include memory capacity 32 (and can even have an internal USB) for memorizing the shooter's history.

It is appreciated that various features of the invention which are, for clarity, described in the contexts of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination. 

1. A weapon comprising: a frame, a slide, a trigger and a grip; and a grip safety positioned on a side panel of said grip, and wherein said grip safety is positioned such that only if said grip is properly and fully gripped by a shooter, said grip safety moves towards said side panel to an off position which enables firing the weapon.
 2. The weapon according to claim 1, wherein said grip safety is arranged to move towards a trigger plane of said weapon, said trigger plane being an imaginary plane that extends between front and rear extremities of the weapon parallel to, or collinear with, a bore sight of the weapon.
 3. The weapon according to claim 1, wherein said grip safety comprises a pad, a lever, a button or a depressable element.
 4. The weapon according to claim 1, wherein said grip safety is biased to be normally in a safe position that prevents firing the weapon.
 5. The weapon according to claim 1, wherein movement of said grip safety to an off position which enables firing the weapon is not coplanar with or parallel to movement of the trigger.
 6. The weapon according to claim 1, wherein said grip safety is perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the weapon.
 7. The weapon according to claim 1, wherein said grip safety comprises a lug, biased by a biasing device, which normally blocks movement of a firearm mechanism of the weapon.
 8. The weapon according to claim 1, wherein said grip safety comprises side-mounted wedge elements arranged to be depressed towards and against a back-strap grip safety.
 9. A method of operating a weapon comprising: using a weapon that comprises a frame, a slide, a trigger and a grip, said weapon comprising a grip safety positioned on a side panel of said grip, said grip safety being positioned such that only if said grip is properly and fully gripped by a shooter, said grip safety moves towards said side panel to an off position which enables firing the weapon; and performing an action of properly and fully gripping said grip, wherein said action moves said grip safety moves towards said side panel to said off position.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein said action moves said grip safety towards a trigger plane of said weapon, said trigger plane being an imaginary plane that extends between front and rear extremities of the weapon parallel to, or collinear with, a bore sight of the weapon.
 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the action of properly and fully gripping said grip causes the shooter's metacarpal bones to contact and move said grip safety to said off position. 